Business
25% increase in capacity at palm oil mill
25% increase in capacity at palm oil mill.
About this update from Dekel Agri-vision Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 2637U Dekeloil Public Limited 23 October 2017 \n\nThe information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service (\"RIS\"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.\n \nDekelOil Public Limited / Index: AIM / Epic: DKL / Sector: Food Producers\n23 October 2017\nDekelOil Public Limited ('DekelOil' or the 'Company')\n25% increase in capacity at one of West Africa's largest palm oil mills\n \nDekelOil Public Limited, operator and 100% owner of the profitable and vertically integrated Ayenouan palm oil project in Côte d'Ivoire, is pleased to announce plans to increase the capacity of its crude palm oil ('CPO') extraction mill ('the Mill'), which is one of West Africa's largest, by 25% to 75 tonnes per hour ('tph') from 60tph. This will allow the Company to maximise production during the peak harvesting season in Côte d'Ivoire, which typically runs from mid-February to early June.\n \nThe Mill's current 60tph capacity is made up of two lines each capable of processing 30 tph of fresh fruit bunches. As part of the planned upgrade, one of these lines is to be increased to 45tph to bring total capacity up to 75tph. This matches the Mill's total press capacity, which is comprised of five presses, each of which is capable of pressing 15 tonnes of sterilised fruits per hour. \n \nThe upgrade is therefore expected to increase the volumes of CPO produced at Ayenouan in the peak harvesting season. For example, in March and April 2017, the Mill produced approximately 6,500 tonnes and 5,000 tonnes of CPO respectively. Had it not been necessary to slow down the presses to prevent and deal with the previously announced bottlenecks in the kernel separation process, the Directors believe production during the month would have reached between 7,000 and 8,000 tonnes. Following the upgrade, the Mill will be able to produce up to 9,000 tonnes of CPO in a peak month. The Company expects that the overall capacity of the Mill will remain unchanged, but this adjustment is expected to enable the Company to significantly increase CPO pro...